WEMBLEY CUP FINAL STILL IN DOUBT

Wembley's hopes of staging this season's FA Cup final appeared to recede last night as it emerged that the legal dispute between the stadium operator and the builder Multiplex has become more complicated.

A construction industry solicitor has already adjudicated on nine issues, seven brought by Multiplex and the other two by Wembley National Stadium Limited. After broadly triumphing on the nine adjudications, the Australian contractor is preparing to lodge a further 50 issues with lawyers.

The process is supposed to be a first step aimed at avoiding messy and expensive courtroom wrangling. However it looks set to drag on into next year. Any individual adjudications can be challenged in the law courts, potentially extending the procedure.

Several of the new issues involve areas of the stadium yet to be completed, which will not advance until the adjudications are resolved, further delaying progress.